Fun With Food - dragon fruit

After my recent mooncake post Alan made a comment that I like to dissect food.  He is 100% correct.  I like to take things apart but I also do it so that you, my faithful blog readers can get a better idea of the food without being here to taste it with me.  I looked back through my blog and realized that I really haven't written too much about the food in Asia.  I am a little surprised at myself since so much of a culture is defined by food and meals...and also because I love good food.  So...I am righting that wrong starting now.  I am beginning a series titled 'fun with food' which will explore the different foods that are specific to Asia.  I hope you enjoy and if there are any foods you want me to blog about feel free to make a suggestion.

Dragon fruit

The first time I saw a dragon fruit was at the hotel breakfast buffet on my first trip to Singapore.  The interesting thing is that the part you eat looks nothing like the outside of it.  Which I guess is no different than a pineapple or cantaloupe.  I'm not sure why it is called dragon fruit but I suspect it has something to do with how scary it looks...like dragons.  Although, I do think it is sort of a pretty fruit.

To give you an idea of the size of a common dragon fruit here it is with a teaspoon...

So, how does one slay a dragon fruit?

Step 1 - cut into the dragon...

It is actually really easy to cut through despite the tough looking exterior. 

The inside reminds me of a kiwi.  There are edible seeds and a sort of mushy meaty bit.

Step 2 - take out the insides

You can just use a spoon around the edge of the shell to get the insides to pop out.

Step 3 - cut up the fruit and serve

The fun thing about the dragon fruit is that you can use the shell to serve the fruit.

So...how does it taste?  The consistency is certainly one similar to a kiwi.  It tastes a lot sweeter to me than a kiwi.  To me there is a mix of a citrus flavor and maybe an apple or pear.  I think it is tasty and worth eating again.

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Sunday morning walk

This morning I wanted to get out and enjoy some sunshine and the nice breezes we've been having so I decided to go for a walk.  The Formula 1 Night Race in Singapore is next weekend so I thought I would wander down near the pits to see if anything interesting was going on.  I am assuming that most of the drivers are already in Singapore to adjust to the time difference.

They actually begin setting up the lights and barriers and stands for the race in August.  It is a huge undertaking since these cars travel on normal city streets at speeds upwards of 200 mph.  Unfortunately for me, the pit area that is along one of my normal walks was completely blocked off in preparation for the race.  There were loads of 'race officials' wandering about and looking at the barriers and lights and then looking back at their plans.  Here are a few pictures...

 I was surprised to see that they had the lights on even in the middle of the day.

This is coming out of one turn (just behind me to the left) and then goes immediately into another one (up near the yellow taxi).

The cars will come from the right (where those guys are standing with the red car) and go just past the dark blue stands and make another quick turn to the right.

I felt a little defeated walking home since I wasn't really able to see too much interesting for the Formula 1 race.  I was about ten minutes from home and walked in front of the Sri Thandayuthapani temple and came across this...
(apologies for the shakiness and the zooming in and out)

This was the celebration of Purattaasi which I only learned after asking a very nice guy who was leaving the temple.  I always feel a bit weird taking photos of religious ceremonies and asking questions about them but he seemed genuinely happy to tell me about it.  He explained that it is one of many Hindu celebrations throughout the year and the people were praying and celebrating in honor of the gods.  When I got home I googled it and found that it is a celebration to honor Lord Vishnu who is thought to be responsible for preserving the universe.

What is hard to see in the video is the that the gold thing bouncing up and down is actually attached to one guy...by needles...through his skin...

The loud cheering in the video was when he started to walk up the stairs...which is probably not the easiest thing to do with all of that stuck to you with needles.

This picture doesn't show too much different than what is in the video but if you click on it to make it larger take a look at the skinny guy with long hair in an orange sarong (in the upper right-hand corner of the picture)...

He was obviously somebody important to the temple.  He would come out and signal for the different things to begin. 

As always, it was fun to just be walking home and stumble across something completely new.  Ironically, not two minutes after I left this exciting scene I passed by a catholic church who was tolling the bells for noon mass.  I just love the diversity of this country!

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17/52 - Marina Barrage

Week 17 of 52
Force of Nature art sculpture
Marina Barrage
Singapore

Have you ever passed by a place so many times that you eventually decide you need to know what the heck it is?  I have seen Marina Barrage off in the distance on walks, on my way to and from the airport, from the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel...and have never known what it was...

I had always assumed that it was some sort of boating place but it is not at all.  It is actually a fresh water reservoir that has a dam to keep the fresh water in and the sea water out.  Who the heck knew???  Clearly I need to brush up on my vocabulary because when I just looked up the definition of barrage it reads "an artificial obstruction in a watercourse to increase the depth of water, facilitate irrigation."  You are allowed to walk in and around the area and it is pretty informative.

Walking up to it appears a little ominous...I wasn't quite sure what I was walking into...

You walk around that curve and enter this open courtyard area with art and water fountains and more importantly...an amazing breeze.

The first place that I wandered out to was the Marina Bridge. 

(This is a view from on top of the pump house building but you can actually walk out across the bridge.)  The bridge itself sits on top of nine dams or gates that can be raised or lowered to help with flooding in Singapore.  The water on the left of the bridge is fresh water that flows into the reservoir from the rivers in Singapore and the water on the right side of the bridge is sea water.  You can see one of the gates raised (second one in from the right side of the picture).  Here's a view of it from the bridge...

I walked out across the bridge to catch the view of the city...and this is an view that I have only seen from a moving taxi up until today...

Inside of the complex is the Sustainable Singapore Gallery.  It has information on Singapore's efforts at environmental sustainability.  It was interesting but I didn't spend as much time as I would have liked as there were a few large tour groups that kept getting in my way...there was however a nice mix of information and art...

A wall of recycled bottles.

These little water droplets actually had information inside you could read.

There were funky mirrors on the ceiling and walls that I liked.

Even I was trying to be a bit artsy with the reflections inside the gallery.

Up on top of the building is a 'green roof'.  They have grass growing and is a wide open space where you could have a picnic or relax and read a book.  It was pretty hot up top so I didn't spend too much time there.  However, due to the location at the edge of the sea there were some pretty nice breezes so was a perfect location for kite flying...

Back down on the main level is a nice central courtyard.  There are some great pieces of art (including the one that I posted at the beginning of this blog entry.)

There was also what they called a 'water playground' which was essentially a bunch of fountains that you could walk out and either play in or stand in with your bare feet to cool off.

I enjoyed wandering around today.  And I am always so impressed at how Singapore manages to have so many green spaces in the middle of such a big, urban area.  And I am doubly impressed that these places are almost always free to get into.  Mostly, I enjoyed the fact that now when I see this place I will actually know what it is!

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Mooncakes

My last 52 weeks post was about the lanterns and festivities around Mid-Autumn Festival.  One of the traditional foods eaten during this time are mooncakes.  I have asked around and tried to research as to what, if any, is the significance of the mooncake.  Unfortunately, I have no specific answer for you.  I guess I would liken it to fruit cake at Christmas and ham on Easter...is just something you eat because you always have.

So, what you ask, does a mooncake look like...

The traditional ones are typically round or square and are about 2 inches thick.  They have a thin, baked exterior with various fillings inside.  Most of them will have a salted duck egg inside but I actually wanted to taste mine and nothing about salted duck egg in a cake sounded good to me so mine was a fruit and nut variety.

They also have less-traditional varieties.  I picked up some that are called 'snowskin' covered.

These little guys are meant to look like rabbits.  I thought it was because this is the year of the rabbit but instead it is because the rabbit is the symbol for the moon...who knew?

So, I actually tasted all of these. 

The traditional mooncake smelled a bit interesting...sort of like spice cake but with some spices I did not recognize.  I figured it would be like fruit cake sense it was so dense and heavy.  Biting into it I realized it really must be a taste that is acquired...I did not really care for it.  It was an odd combination of sweet with salty and grains and paste and just general oddness.  Needless to say, I took two bites (I always feel like you should take two just to confirm) and then discarded the rest.

The little rabbits were oh so sweet...insanely sweet...over the top put you in a sugar coma kind of sweet.  Each was a different flavor.  The pink was raspberry, the green was green tea, and the yellow was vanilla.  The insides of these were filled with lotus paste which to me seems like a whole lot of sugar mixed with lotus somesuch.  If I had to choose between the two I'd take the snowskin variety but I am not a fan of things that sugary and sweet so one bite would have been fine.

In case you were curious what the insides looked liked...

I've seen these around since I started traveling to Singapore in 2008 and never tried them.  I'm glad I tasted them all but probably won't go out of my way to eat them again.

The best part of the whole mooncake taste test...the box the snowskin variety came in...

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Questions

I am confident that every single American remembers the exact moment when the learned of the 9/11 attacks...I won't go into specifics here...I will tell you that I still have an email from my brother Jeff printed and hanging on a bulletin board at our house in NC.  It is his stream-of-consciousness description of his morning having just arrived at work in a building right next to ground zero and his next few hours until he was safely away from it all.  I keep it hanging up and read it every so often to remind me how lucky and truly blessed we were as a family to be so close to tragedy and escape it relatively unscathed.

At the time that I received Jeff's email I never would have thought I would be living in another country.  Not because of what just happened but because it hadn't really dawned on me as an idea.  Now, after having been here I cannot imagine not having lived this experience.  There are the obvious reasons of travel and food but it has opened my eyes in ways I never thought of as a 'benefit' or 'perk' to being an expat.

I'll be the first to admit that Singapore isn't crazy different from the US...I typically describe it as 'Asia Light'...but there is enough of a difference that it makes you think.  I have to abide by the local laws...whether or not I agree with them or I risk being shipped home or even, believe it or not, caned as a punishment.  But it definitely stretches beyond the laws and government...to things like the difference in culture and religion and dress and skin tone... Sure we Americans pride ourselves on diversity but putting yourself into a situation where you are the minority teaches you a lot and in a very different way.

One of the biggest lessons I have learned during my time in Asia is to ask questions...  It seems so simple, doesn't it?  But, for some reason, before living here I was afraid to ask questions.  I was afraid I would offend someone...or intrude...or who knows what...but whatever it was kept me from asking them.  As a result, I would view things and put my own spin on them, right or wrong, because I didn't know any different.  Now I ask a million questions.  I do it in a polite manner and I do so with the understanding that some people may not want to answer them.  However, 9.9 times out of 10 they do...and they are thrilled to teach you about their culture or religion or food or how they dress...  I may not agree with everything but certainly appreciate the opportunity to learn about it and make my own decision.

When I was in Vietnam last year I went on tour and within a few minutes of pulling away from the hotel the tour guide said "I am going to tell you our side, the Vietnamese side of the war.  I'm not trying to attack you or offend you but please respect that this is the view from my country."  I remember some people from my office saying they were indeed offended by the way the US was portrayed in some of the museums and other places.  I did not find it offensive at all...it was just a different view.

I have been so lucky to learn things about so many different religions and cultures and governments.  My world view has been completely changed.  Before coming here I thought I considered myself open-minded but the comparison between then and now is light years difference.  Regardless, I'm thankful.  I encourage you all to do the simple thing and ask the questions.  And I have to wonder that if everyone had an experience similar to mine or just simply took the time to ask questions instead of make assumptions would we be able to live in a place with no more 9/11 type attacks?  I know that is a very naive view but this is my blog and a gal can be hopeful.

On another note, while we are remembering 9/11 I can't help but give a shout-out to all of the amazing service men and women.  If you are interested in doing something small...you can always drop something in the mail to one of our military personnel posted overseas using anysoldier.com.  Here's the website: http://anysoldier.com/. And here's a link to my original post about this fabulous website. 

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16/52

Week 16 of 52
Mid-Autumn Festival
Chinese Gardens, Singapore

Sunday night I went out to Chinese Gardens to wander around and see the lanterns that are up for the Mid-Autumn Festival.  What, you ask, is the Mid-Autumn Festival?  It is celebrated in some Asian countries, mostly Chinese, to celebrate the end of the fall harvest season.  It coincides with the autumnal equinox when the moon is fullest.  This year it is celebrated on September 12th.

One of the things that goes along with the festival are lanterns.  They are up all around the city and there are quite a few at Chinese Gardens.

I'm not exactly sure what the meaning behind the lanterns is although, I'm sure it is similar to the twinkly lights that we put up at Christmas...just pretty!  The thing that I didn't get a picture of were all of the kids walking around with their own little lanterns.  They put them on little sticks and then put either a light or a candle inside and they walk around with them.

I enjoyed wandering around looking at all of the pretty lanterns and light displays.  While I wasn't really participating in the festival it was fun to be around all of the families and to experience something new.

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Night Lights

Before I start with my blog...this is my 400th blog post!  Woohoo!  I'm never imagined I would hit the 400 mark when I first started writing blog posts... 

Last night I met my friend for dinner in a part of town that I don't usually frequent.  The dinner itself was good but a little odd...service is not usually that great in Singapore and last night was no different.  It is really a shame because had it been just a little bit better the whole meal experience would have been fabulous.

After dinner we walked up the street to the Singapore Art Museum.  The SAM was one of the spots for the 'Night Lights 2011' exhibit.  The brochure they handed out claimed we should "be dazzled by the nine-evening outdoor showcase of spectacular light installations from France."  I'm not sure that I was 'dazzled' or that I would call it 'spectacular' but I had no idea it was going on and it was fun to come across.

I only had my teeny-tiny, point & shoot camera so didn't get great pictures but hold true to Alan and my friend Tina's recommendations that you should always be ready with a camera in your bag...you never know what you are going to come across... 
 
The exhibit that was the most interesting to watch was called 'Lyrical Perspective' and was at the SAM. 

They used lights on the outside of the SAM building which came alive when somebody spoke into a microphone.  I was able to get a few seconds of it on video so hopefully you get an idea...

Another of the exhibits was called "Lampounettes' which were just gigantic table lamps...

One of the exhibits that was cool to see in person but couldn't really be captured on camera was called 'Parking Mad'.  There was a row of about 20 Volvo cars parked in front of the Singapore National Museum.  They had frosted windows and lights inside that would light up in sequence...

The exhibit that I liked the best was called 'Green Invaders' and reminded me of my youth playing Space Invaders on our original Atari...

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Not a game for kids

A stop that I always make when I have visitors in Singapore is Chinatown.  There is some great food, cheap shopping, and some good photo spots.  There is also a Buddhist temple that is open to tourists.  I have blogged previously about visiting the temple.

One of my favorite parts of Chinatown is just outside of the temple.  There is a plaza or courtyard or some big ole' slab of cement where people gather.  Part of it is covered and under the cover are always a bunch of older Chinese men playing either checkers or dominoes.  These do not appear to be the friendly games of our childhood...they are serious business...and there is always lots of intensity and stress and cheering and commenting...is fun to just sit and watch for a bit.

I often wish I could speak Mandarin so I knew what they were saying to each other...but a small part of me really enjoys not understanding so that I can put my own commentary to it.

I also think it is interesting how these two games that are taken so seriously by these men are mainly the games of children back home.  I am curious what game I will be playing when I get a bit older.  My guess is that it will be Scrabble.  Do you think there will be as much interest and intensity when I score 68 points on a 3-letter word?

BTW - I cannot decide who I like better...the guy in the blue plaid shirt with his hands on his head or the guy in the greenish print shirt with his hands clasped at his chest.

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